Military Dynamics In The Democratisation Of Zimbabwe ...

[Pages:16]International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention (IJHSSI) ISSN (Online): 2319 ? 7722, ISSN (Print): 2319 ? 7714 ||Volume 7 Issue 06 Ver. IV ||Jun. 2018 || PP.57-72

Military Dynamics In The Democratisation Of Zimbabwe: Demystifying The Conundrum

Daglous Makumbe

Department of Political StudiesUniversity of the Western CapeRobert Sobhukwe RoadBellvilleCape Town Corresponding Author : Daglous Makumbe

ABSTRACT: In November 2017 the Zimbabwe Defense Forces staged a bloodless coup de tat that removed

former President Robert Gabriel Mugabe from power, effectively ending his 37-year old rule. The army took

complete control of the airport, broadcasting services, the president's residence, manned all major roads and

streets in and around Harare, took control of the parliament, subjected the president to house arrest, suspended

and relieved the police of their duties in an operation codenamed "Restore Legacy." The army repudiated such

an undertaking as a military coup, lightly preferring to call it a bloodless correction or military

constitutionalism. This act ushered in a new political dimension in the democratisation of Zimbabwe since 1980

when the country attained its independence. This paper examines and dissects how the Zimbabwean political

drama unfolded and moves that the Zimbabwean scenario suffices a military coup.

KEY WORDS Military Coup, Robert Mugabe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe National Army

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Date of Submission: 22-06-2018

Date of acceptance: 07-07-2018

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Acronyms AU EU FDI G40 MDC NATO SADC UN ZANU PF ZDF ZNA ZNLWVA

African Union European Union Foreign Direct Investment Generation 40 Movement for Democratic Change North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Southern African Development Community United Nations Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front Zimbabwe Defense Forces Zimbabwe National Army Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association

I. OVERVIEW "The Zimbabwe Defense Forces are not going to salute, let alone tolerate a government that comes into power that has no credentials of the liberation struggle."1 Zimbabwe Defense Forces service chiefs-2002 election eve. The Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF) is predominantly dominated by soldiers with liberation war credentials. The army General, Lieutenant General, Major Generals, Brigadiers, Colonels, Prison Service Commander, and Police Commissioner General all has liberation war credentials. They thus serve the interests of ZANU PF rather than those of the government and people of Zimbabwe. This also means that even if the people of Zimbabwe cast a majority vote in favour of a party that is not ZANU PF (for example as they did in 2008 when they voted for MDC when it defeated ZANU PF by 65% to 35%), the army intervenes and imposes ZANU PF as the ruling party against the will of the people of Zimbabwe. This has made a mockery of the Zimbabwean elections and a dreadful miscarriage of democracy. Such undemocratic practices have also turned the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) into a highly politicized army which no longer stands as a national army but as a party (ZANU PF) army. The same army that imposed Robert Mugabe in power after being vanquished in the 2008 elections by MDC is the same army that staged a soft coup to unseat him from power unconstitutionally in November 2017. Since military coups have a notoriety of recurring and repeating

1 This was announced by the Zimbabwe Defense Forces service chiefs, former and late army General Vitalis Zvinavashe flanked by former Air Marshal Perence Shiri and former police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri on the 2002 election eve.



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Military Dynamics In The Democratisation Of Zimbabwe: Demystifying The Conundrum

themselves, we expect more of these military coups in Zimbabwe as this first coup have set a successful precedence for the army in particular and for Zimbabweans in general.

The Genesis of Robert Mugabe's Waterloo The genesis of Robert Mugabes political demise can be traced back to the time when he allowed his

wife Grace to venture into full time politics after being elevated as the WomenAffairs and Child Survival Foundation leader. When Robert Mugabe allowed his wife to venture into the political arena full time, she enjoyed proximity power to the president and started enjoying her political privileges as a defacto president of Zimbabwe while Robert Mugabe became the dejure president of Zimbabwe. When Grace Mugabe ventured into the political field full time, she became very influential and attracted the gullible ZANU PFWomens League and Youth League hence dominating the Zimbabwean political show. As the wife of the ageing Mugabe, she became very influential and powerful and could dismiss senior government and party members whom she accused of fanning factionalism in ZANU PF. Some senior political casualties who were axed by Grace Mugabe from the party and government for fanning factionalism include political stalwarts such as Ray Kaukonde, Jabulani Sibanda, Didymus Mutasa, Rugare Gumbo, Nicholas Goche, Francis Nhema, Webster Shamhu, and former Vice president Joyce Mujuru. After perpetrating these purges successfully, Grace Mugabe realized that she could rise further by pruning more senior party and government officials hence paving the way for her ascendancy to power.

Joyce Mujuru and Emmerson Mnangagwa: Grace Mugabe's two stumbling blocks to presidency In line with the Beijing Conference on gender representation, Robert Mugabe appointed Joyce Mujuru

as Vice President of Zimbabwe in a quest to attain gender equilibrium in top government posts. For Joyce Mujuru to attain that post, she was strongly backed and recommended by her husband Solomon Mujuru, the late and former army General who had retired but maintained his influence in both the military and government circles. For many Zimbabweans Joyce Mujuru was presidential material, motherly, professional, well respected and tipped for presidency after the retirement or death of Robert Mugabe. Events reached a tragic head when Solomon Mujuru was devoured by an inferno at his Alamein Farm in Beatrice in acrimonious circumstances. Many suspected that it is top ZANU PF ministers who orchestrated the murder of Solomon Mujuru in order to constrict his wifes chances of becoming the president of Zimbabwe after Mugabes retirement or death. The death of Solomon Mujuru was devastating, stressful and traumatizing for Joyce Mujuru as she became politically vulnerable. Grace Mugabe exploited this loophole and started to castigate Vice President Joyce Mujuru for fanning factionalism and plotting to assassinate the then President Robert Mugabe, allegations which Joyce Mujuru repudiated as a mortuary of pathological lies and a malicious vendetta of vilification and character assassination. Grace Mugabes dominant influence made Robert Mugabe to expel Joyce Mujuru from her vice presidency post as well as from the government. Her political cabal was also axed from both government and party, and included political stalwarts such as Didymus Mutasa, Rugare Gumbo, Nicholas Goche, Webster Shamhu, Ray Kaukonde, Jabulani Sibanda and Francis Nhema. Emmerson Mnangagwa, who by then was a cabinet minister, was also influential in the firing of Joyce Mujuru as he teamed up with Grace Mugabe to influence Robert Mugabe to expel the suspected political renegades. After this political turnaround Mugabe then appointed Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phekezela Mphoko as vice presidents of Zimbabwe, with Emmerson Mnangagwa as the first vice president and Mphoko as the second vice president.

Emmerson Mnangagwa: Grace Mugabe's last stumbling block to presidency When Joyce Mujuru and her faction (which was infamously known as the Gamatox) were axed from

ZANU PF it was victory for Grace Mugabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa as this boosted their chances of ascending to vice presidency and then to presidency. When Robert Mugabe appointed Emmerson Mnangagwa as Zimbabwean vice president, this posed again as a challenge to Grace Mugabe who still was ambitious to lead the country after her husbands retirement or death. As political tensions and antagonisms began to surface between Emmerson Mnangagwa and Grace Mugabe, they each formed antagonistic political camps within ZANU PF. Emmerson Mnangagwa formed the Team Lacoste Camp, well known with its crocodile emblem and comprising such political figures as Patrick Chinamasa, Oppah Muchinguri, Obert Mpofu, Webster Shamhu, Kembo Mohadi, Joram Gumbo and Simon Khaya Moyo. Grace Mugabe on the other side formed her own political faction named G40 (Generation 40) composed of younger politicians who had no liberation war credentials. These included the flamboyant Professor Jonathan Moyo, Sydney Sekeramayi, Saviour Kasukuwere, Ignatius Chombo, Mugabes nephew Patrick Zhuwao and second vice president Phekezela Mphoko. The G40 faction dominated the Zimbabwean political show as the members utilised their proximity power to the president to scold, lambast, vilify and lampoon members of the Team Lacoste in public meetings and rallies.



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Military Dynamics In The Democratisation Of Zimbabwe: Demystifying The Conundrum

Emmerson Mnangagwa and the Zimbabwe Defense Forces: Adopting both a proactive and reactive political approach

When Emmerson Mnangagwa was allegedly poisoned through an ice cream in Gwanda at a political symposium, the ice cream was allegedly from Robert Mugabes dairy farm. There were thus speculations that it was Grace Mugabe who had clandestinely poisoned the ice cream in order to get rid of Mnangagwa. The ice cream saga became Grace Mugabes vilification tool to openly castigate and vilify Mnangagwa at political meetings and rallies. Grace Mugabe would incessantly castigate Mnangagwa for accusing her as a witch. This is where the Grace Mugabe-Mnangagwa feud began. When Mnangagwa realized that he was the next target of expulsion, he established an impregnable political relationship with the army chiefs. Grace Mugabe on the other hand had very bad political blood with the service chiefs whom she would castigate and undress in public, especially the then army General Constantine Chiwenga. Before his expulsion Mnangagwa sensed it and started to connive with the army in order to stage a soft coup as soon as he was expelled. Emmerson Mnangagwa was finally expelled by Mugabe in November 2017 on allegations of deceitfulness and dishonesty as well as planning to assassinate the president Robert Gabriel Mugabe. As soon as he was expelled, Mnangagwa fled to South Africa and promised that he would return to Zimbabwe in a few weeks time to lead the country.

Zimbabwe under a military coup I will define a coup de tat (or a putsch) as an unconstitutional and illegitimate change of government

that is detrimental to democracy, municipal and international law. A military coup manifests itself in two different ways: a bloody coup or a bloodless coup. The Zimbabwean soft coup started around 13-14th of November after the army General Constantino Chiwenga returned from China where he had met Mnangagwa to deliberate on the modalities of the coup. The Zimbabwe National Army staged a military coup in in favour of Emmerson Mnangagwa because:

1)- Grace Mugabe was allegedly dividing the party hence becoming a political nonsense. 2)- Her lack of respect for the army and senior party and government officials annoyed many who were now

viewing her as a political virago. She could undress her fellow party and government opponents in public like children and this posed a threat to national peace and security. 3)- She had completely overridden Mugabe and had become the defacto president of Zimbabwe, instructing Mugabe who to appoint, suspend, promote or fire. 4)- Her gargantuan appetite for presidency was seen by many as a form of political manipulation since she enjoyed proximity power. She wanted to be the next president of Zimbabwe so that she could safeguard her familys wealth, investments, thwart any possible prosecutions that she could possibly be implicated in as well as her husbands. 5)- Grace Mugabe had galvanized Zimbabwe into a Mugabeist fiefdom whereby her relatives had been allocated key government and parastatal posts. Her daughter Bona had been appointed as the director of the state-owned Empowerment Bank, and her son in Law Simba Chikore had been appointed as Air Zimbabwe managing Director. Mugabes nephew Patrick Zhuwao had been appointed as a Minister of Youth while his other nephew Ignatius Chombo had been appointed as Minister of Finance. 6)- Grace Mugabes disrespect for those who had liberation war credentials infuriated the army and war veterans. The fact that ZANU PF purges were only targeting those with liberation war credentials made many war veterans and soldiers with liberation war credentials to seek revenge and retribution if Emmerson Mnangagwa was expelled.

This paper thus supports the view that it is Grace Mugabe who played a pivotal role and an architect in the political demise of herself and of Robert Gabriel Mugabe.

Anti-Mugabe march to State House: Saturday 18 November 2017. Who marched and who benefited? War veterans, ZANU PF youths and supporters from different provinces came and marched on this

fateful day to state house in a bid to make Mugabe resign from presidency. But the bulk of the people who marched were opposition supporters, especially Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters who constituted about 98% of the marchers. The opposition marchers had numerical superiority over all other marchers because all Zimbabwean urban areas are predominantly MDC from council, mayoral, senate and parliamentary seats. The opposition dominates in the urban areas since 2002. It is against this backdrop that there is no gainsaying that the majority of the marchers were MDC supporters who had seized such an opportunity to change the status quo. MDC had failed to unseat Mugabe in 2002 general election which was marred by violence perpetrated on opposition supporters by ZANU PF. It had also failed to unseat Mugabe in 2008 when it trounced ZANU PF in a free and fair election, humiliating and thrashing ZANU PF by 65% to 35%. It is reported that Mugabe had succumbed to defeat and wanted to step down and hand over power to Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC leader), but was compelled to stay in power by his cronies such as Emmerson



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Mnangagwa, Didymus Mutasa and the army. When ZANU PF learnt of its electoral defeat in 2008, it played some cheap mind games, instituting a rigorous verification process and taking almost a year to announce the results. The process was so arduous and boring that ZANU PF could take almost a month to announce the results of a single constituency after its verification process. When ZANU PF was vanquished, they engaged the army, ZANU PF youths and war veterans to intimidate, coerce torture, amputate, beat and assassinate opposition supporters in the rural areas. The scale of atrocities and crimes against humanity were more rampant and severe in the rural areas where ZANU PF took advantage of the vulnerability of the rural populace as well as the rural peoples ignorance, ignorance to their rights such as freedom of choice, assembly, political affiliation as well as legal representation.

Since 1980 Mugabes weapon and intimidator tool has been the army which could threaten wars on Zimbabwean civilians, intimidate, coerce, torture or murder suspected opposition supporters. The MDC, having failed to replace Mugabe after defeating him in the 2008 democratic election due to army resistance found an opportunity this time to join and support the war veterans, army and ZANU PF youth league in the November anti-Mugabe march. For the first time MDC supporters, the army, war veterans, ZANU PF youth militia and other ZANU PF supporters were on the same side sharing time and space together and having unity of purpose. The MDC, realizing that the once closest allies (army and Mugabe) were now foes collaborated with the army, ZANU PF youth league and war veterans in the march to remove Mugabe. The march, which compelled Mugabe to resign after which a parliamentary impeachment motion was in process, was a great victory for the MDC in particular and the opposition in general. This was also a great victory for the opposition because ZANU PF cornerstone and stalwart (Robert Mugabe) who had desperately solidified the partyfor 37years and who had posed as the major stumbling block to the oppositions ascension to power had now fallen.

Does the Zimbabwean scenario suffice a military coup? The ZNAs takeover was a military coup and there is no gainsaying it. This is because:

The army evacuated everyone at the state broadcasting services, both radio and television and it took control of the broadcasting system. From then onwards it is the soldiers who were broadcasting. The army also took control of the airport and controlled all the activities there, manning it securely. In a dramatic televised statement in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the army spokesman denied that a military takeover was underway. But the situation bore all the hallmarks of a coup: The military was in control of state television in Harare, there was a significant military presence at the international airport, and Mugabe has not been seen in public.2The army also took control of the national parliament, arrested police support unit officers who were manning it after they had tried to resist orders from the soldiers. The army also guarded the support unit headquarters in Chikurubi to make sure that no police officer of the support unit branch gets access to arms at the armory. The Zimbabwean military is in charge of a paramilitary police support unit depot in Harare and has disarmed police officers there. They are now in charge of all armories, all gates and roads leading in and out of the camp. Arcturus Road (which leads to the camp) is closed and all Support Unit details with guns have been disarmed.3 The army also imposed strict restrictions on the police and prison service and the officers were virtually under house arrest. All police officers duties were suspended and army officers were the ones who were executing the duties such as manning roadblocks and maintenance of peace and order. Military took control of key places; parliament; airport; presidential palace; manned all major roads leading to the capital city and searched people and vehicles. Police was suspended as the military manned roadblocks and executed all police duties. The police were no longer to be seen anywhere.

The ZNA placed former president Robert Mugabe under house arrest where he was severely restricted. He was instructed on what to say or answer even when answering a phone call from his fellow counterpart former South African President Jacob Zuma, concerning his safety during the coup process. Mugabe and Graces luxurious Borrowdale mansion was under siege from the military. The presence of four tanks and a platoon of soldiers stationed outside this mansion was enough to signal to Zimbabwes only leader since independence in 1980 that the end is nigh. Since then he had been largely captive and, on a few occasions he left his home, he was subjected to thorough security checks, some of which were humiliating.4 Mugabes security was shaken to the core when his house was put under siege. He was reduced to a prisoner. His movements were now limited. The army was clearly in control after tanks took positions at strategic places at Blue Roof.5As the

2McKenzie, D., Swails, B., and Dewan, A. 2017. "Zimbabwe is under military control after army seizes power from Mugabe." CNN, November 15. 3 This was said by an army source who told Reuters on that fateful day.Cited in Osborne, S., Kentish, B., and Batchelor, T. 2017. "Zimbabwe: Robert Mugabe under house arrest after military seize Harare but deny coupas it happened." The Independent Online 4Mpofu, B. 2017. "Under Military Siege for seven days." Zimbabwe Independent, November 24 to 30, p.4 5 Ibid, 4



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drama unfolded and the military made it clear to him that it was in charge, his wife Grace, accused by many of triggering her husbands demise, remained holed up in the mansion despite false social media reports that she had fled to Namibia or China. She only experienced limited freedom of movement on Monday morning around 11am when her white Land Cruiser V8 was escorted by two army Mercedes sedans to her Mazowe empire.6 Other Zimbabwean coup casualties include former finance minister Ignatius Chombo, former minister of youth and Mugabes nephew Patrick Zhuwao and former minister of higher and tertiary education Professor Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo. First to be under siege was finance Minister Ignatius Chombos house in Mt Pleasantaround 1130pm. By midnight, four tanks comprising Russian and Chinese built T69 and T72, headed to Mugabes mansion. Mugabes military men, the Presidential Guard Brigade, headed by Chiwengas confidante Nhamo Anslous Sanyatwa, had been briefed of the operation, which was later codenamed "Operation Restore Legacy.7 Mugabes chief security man, Central Intelligence Organisation director in charge of security, Albert Ngulube, had been seized by the army and there was a blackout on the security situation. His motorcade also arrived at the Blue Roof, but could not leave without orders from Defense House.8

The president, who is also the commander in chief of the Zimbabwe defense forces as stipulated by the constitution of Zimbabwe, was not the one who deployed the military in strategic positions such as parliament, broadcasting services, airport, roads and streets as well as other strategic positions. It is the army generals who executed such duties and hence this act also suffices a military coup. Constitution of Zimbabwe Section 213 of Amendment NO. 20 (2013) entitled "Deployment of Forces" stipulates that, (i) Subject to this Constitution, only the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Forces has power-a) to authorize the deployment of the Defense Forces; or b) has power to determine the operational use of the Defense Forces.9 Since the above functions were executed by the military chiefs and not the president, such an undertaking was tantamount to a military coup.

The Zimbabwean military seized power in Zimbabwe stating that it was targeting criminals around Mugabe who were causing social and economic suffering. The army however used a fig leaf reason by denying that it was a coup yet the undertaking bore all the characteristics of a military coup. The army stated that the undertaking was not a coup de tat but was a "bloodless correction."10 We wish to make it abundantly clear that this is not a military takeover. We are only targeting criminals around (Mr. Mugabe) who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice. As soon as we have accomplished our mission, we expect that the situation will return to normalcy.11 Major General Sibusiso Moyo also announced that all leave for the Zimbabwe defense forces had been cancelled and all soldiers had to return to the barracks expeditiously with immediate effect. Chris Mutsvangwa, a Mnangagwa ally and a leader of the ZNLWVA (and now an advisor in the office of the president) described the move as a ,,bloodless coup, and praised the ZNA. We salute the patriotic and gallant forces of Zimbabwe for once again coming to the decisive rescue of the nation. The populace has long suffered under a self-saving dictatorship that had become an oligarchy with dynastic delusions.12 The Zimbabwean coup de tat and the subsequent fall of Robert Mugabe were also celebrated in London in the House of Commons. Boris Johnson, a United Kingdom Foreign Secretary described Mugabe in the House of Commons as a power hungry despot who would not be missed. This House will remember the brutal litany of his 37 years in office. The elections he rigged and stole, the murder and torture of his opponents, the illegal seizure of land, leading to the worst hyper-inflation in record history measured in the billions of percentage points, and forcing the abolition of the Zimbabwean dollar.13 All these above developments that transpired in Zimbabwe constitute characteristics of a military coup and therefore this paper asserts that the Zimbabwean scenario suffices a military coup and therefore Mnangagwa government is tainted with illegality in both municipal and international law.

The Zimbabwe National Army: Coumaflagging the military coup The ZNA tried by all diplomatic means to coumaflage the coup to make it appear as if the people of

Zimbabwe are the ones who had driven Mugabe out of power in scenes reminiscent to the March Of Women or

6 Ibid, 4 7 The ZNA reiterated that this operation was purely a party (ZANU PF) clean up exercise and had nothing to do with the government. 8 Ibid, 4 9Constitution of Zimbabwe, Amendment NO. 20, (2013), Section 213 10Osborne, S., Kentish, B., and Batchelor, T. 2017. "Zimbabwe: Robert Mugabe under house arrest after military seize Harare but deny coup-as it happened." The Independent Online 11A televised speech by retired Major General Sibusiso B. Moyo, Chief of Staff Logistics (now minister of Foreign Affairs). Cited in Ibid, 10 12 Cited in Ibid, 2 13 Cited in Ibid, 2



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the Storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution but it was apparently obvious that the coup could not be coumaflaged. Retired General Chiwenga had already hinted that army intervention was imminent due to the infighting that was transpiring in ZANU PF. The army in general and Chiwenga in particular were continually seething over Mugabes notorious tendency of sacking only those members with liberation background from ZANU PF. We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in.14 The ZNA also tried by all means to coumaflage the coup by avoiding at all costs to use the term "coup" throughout this whole military drama, preferring to use other lighter terms such as military constitutionalism or military correction. For the army, all these political maneuvers which limited Mugabes movements, effectively putting him under house arrest, were some form of "military constitutionalism" and not a coup.15Zimbabwe Defense Forces Chief-of-Staff (Quarter Master) Major General Sibusiso Moyo said that the military intervention was done in order to avoid the infighting in ZANU PF from escalating, on the night the army took control on 8 November. What the Zimbabwe Defense Forces is doing is to pacify a degenerating political, social and economic situation in our country which if not addressed may result in a violent conflict...To members of all defense forces, all leave is cancelled and you are all to return to your barracks...16 In a desperate bid to coumaflage the military coup the army, war veterans and ZANU PF youths instigated the populace to organise a march to the state house so that the world could see this mega presidential demonstration. The army assured the marchers that this time they will not bash or shoot the demonstrators but will instead protect them. For the first time since 1980 when Zimbabwe attained its independence the army was not against the people, sharing time, space and goals with the people.

The army was only Coumaflagging its coup. It had almost completed its task of seizing power and wanted to use a fig leaf statement that it is the people of Zimbabwe who had expelled Mugabe, just like what happened in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. In essence, it is the army that had accomplished the task. On that fateful day pugnacious Zimbabweans marched to the state house with placards and were demonstrating. Others marched directly to the presidential palace in Borrowdale, popularly known as the ,,Blue Roof. This was done with the assistance; support and authority of the army in order to coumaflage its coup, in order to give the world a false psychological blanket that it was the demonstrating Zimbabweans that had expelled Robert Mugabe. Clandestinely, it was the army that had staged a coup and was only masquerading and legitimizing it by coumaflagging it with demonstrating Zimbabweans.

Emmerson Mnangagwa: A president of the army and not of the Zimbabwean people Emmerson Mnangagwa was imposed as an interim president through a military coup by the army. He

was not democratically elected through an election and hence was imposed. The removal of Robert Mugabe was therefore unconstitutional, illegitimate and tainted with illegality both in municipal and international law. Against this backdrop, Emmerson Mnangagwa is thus a president of the army and not of the Zimbabwean people.

The rationale for the Zimbabwean military coup Grace Mugabe had developed a gargantuan appetite of firing only those ZANU PF officials and

ministers with liberation war credentials in a bid to promote her faction of the Generation 40 who had no liberation war credentials. This infuriated the war veterans, officials and ministers with liberation war credentials as well as soldiers. The war veterans and soldiers with liberation war credentials were envisaging a ,,bedroom coup by first lady Grace Mugabe. Grace Mugabe was vying to succeed her husband Robert Mugabe. To pave the way for Grace, Mugabe sought to expel all those stalwarts who were a threat to his wifes ascension to powersuch as former vice president Joyce Mujuru and Emmerson Mnangagwa. The Team Lacoste, war veterans and army, composed of members with liberation war credentials saw Grace Mugabe in particular and the G40 in general as a threat that needed to be abruptly stopped before the December 2017 ZANU PF congress.

As Grace intensified her push to be appointed vice president to replace Mnangagwa and possibly replace Mugabe as president, the military intervened, initially warning against the purging of party members, particularly with liberation war credentials.17 After ZANU PF Youth League attacked Zimbabwe Defense Forces Commander General Constantino Chiwenga for the statement, accusing him of treasonable conduct, military commanders took over government operations in the early hours of Wednesday morning last week in an operation code named "Restore Legacy," which they said was meant to weed out criminals around Mugabe and

14 Nevett, J. 2017. "Tanks roll into Zimbabwean capital as Robert Mugabe faces military coup."-Published on 14 November 2017. 15 Ibid, 14 16 Ibid, 14 17 Kuwaza, K. 2017. "ZANU PF gets new lease of life." The Zimbabwe Independent, November 24 to 30, p.4



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prevent the political situation degenerating into violent conflict.18 The military is also endowed with such powers by the constitution of Zimbabwe whenever it perceives that political discord within a country may turn into a violent conflict hence threatening the countrys peace and security. This is cited in Section 212 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, Amendment NO. 20 (2013), entitled "Function of Defense Forces" which stipulates that, "The function of the Defense Forces is to protect Zimbabwe, its people, its national security and interests and its territorial integrity and to uphold this constitution."19

Why military coups occur Military coups occur for various reasons, and here are some of them; a)- Autocratic Rule-Autocratic rule sometimes breeds military coups when a leaders subordinates become fade

up of ones autocratic tendencies, for example Louis XVIs ancient Regime in France. Historian David Thompson says that the kings word was the law. The king would say, "The thing is legal because I wish it."20 Such autocratic tendencies may lead to disillusionment and hence coup de tats. b)- Economic Backwardness-economic retardation sometimes cause coups, such as when a country is sliding back to the murky waters of inflation, debt, corruption, poor living conditions and poverty. Zimbabwe is one such banana republic that possesses all the above characteristics which are a harbinger for a military coup. c)- Corruption-many African states are in the top 20 in the Transparency International corruption rankings. States such as Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Malawi, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo are notoriously known for corruption. Zimbabwes current interim president Emmerson Mnangagwa is incessantly calling on his corrupt cabinet ministers and other ZANU PF officials that he inherited from the Mugabe regime to return all the funds they externalized out of the country in corrupt proportions. This anticorruption exercise may be nugatory since it is reported that those corrupt ZANU PF officials and ministers are also calling on Mnangagwa to lead by example and return the funds that he himself allegedly externalized first, and then others would emulate him. d)- Abuse of institutions of democracy-many African leaders abuse state institutions for their own expediency and political survival whilst they are occupying the highest office. Robert Mugabe is such leader who abused state institutions through electoral fraud, torture and murder of opponents using the police and army, clinging to power even after the 2008 electoral defeat by MDC and gerrymandering of constituencies for his own party advantage, as well as perpetrating genocide in Matabeleland and Midlands at the hands of 5 Brigade in the 1980s. e)- Overriding the law and the courts-elites in most African countries belonging to ruling parties are above the law and are never found culpable. In Zimbabwe, for example, the president appoints and fires judges. In the 2000s Robert Mugabe fired all white judges who were sitting on the high court bench for their dissenting judgments on the land issue, such as Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay, Justice Smith, Justice McNally, Justice James Devittie, JusticeMcDonald and Justice Blackie, replacing them with black judges whom he could tell what to do. ZANU PF officials and ministers are far above the law as they perpetrate horrific acts such as electoral fraud, murders, tortures and genocides with impunity. f)- Tribalism and nepotism-The Shonas dominate in the Zimbabwean political landscape and are numerically superior to the Ndebeles. This means that there will never be any president of Zimbabwe from the Ndebeles since they are the minority. The Ndebeles shun the Shonas for the genocidal acts perpetrated in Matabeleland and Midlands in 1985 in an operation code named "Gukurahundi," literally meaning "Clean up the filth." Currently the ZNA Commander General is Ndebele (Philip Valerio Sibanda) and may seize this opportunity to turn the tables on the Shona-dominated government by staging a coup and changing the status quo. g)- An imminent bedroom coup-In the Zimbabwean 2017 scenario an imminent "bedroom coup" caused a soft coup. Mugabe at 93 had been incapacitated by age and his wife was running the political show in Zimbabwe. She could appoint and fire ministers, especially those with liberation war credentials. To the war veterans and the army, this smacked a bedroom coup that needed to be stopped before it escalates. This made the army to stage a military coup in order to stop Grace and expel her and his husband from the political landscape. h)- Ignoring army grievances-Ignoring the grievances of the army was Robert Mugabes undoing and led to a military coup. The army was complaining that ZANU PF purges were only targeting officials with liberation war credentials and Mugabe seemed not to take heed of such grievances. His wifes party purges continued unfettered, and became a concoction for a military coup.

18 Ibid, 17 19Constitution of Zimbabwe, Amendment NO. 20 (2013), Section 212. 20 Thompson, D. 1983.Europe since Napoleon. London: Longman



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Military Dynamics In The Democratisation Of Zimbabwe: Demystifying The Conundrum

Dead Celebrations Zimbabweans might live to regret in the long run why they were overexcited by the fall of Robert

Mugabe. Emmerson Mnangagwa might be equal to Mugabe or even worse than Mugabe. Just like in the Mugabe era, nothing might be achieved by the Mnangagwa administration. This is because the Mnangagwa government is manned with the same old, residual, corrupt, outdated, recycled and anachronistic ministers and officials who constitute almost 80% of the administration. Most of these incompetent officials, including Mnangagwa himself, have worked with Mugabe for 37 years bleeding the country and plunging it into economic malaise through mismanagement and unproductive policies. Secondly, it is only a part of ZANU PF (the G40) that has been axed from the party and government and what remains is another part of ZANU PF (Team Lacoste) which will likely continue with perpetuation of corruption, mismanagement, patronage, nepotism and incompetence. Thirdly, having worked with Mugabe for more than 20 years as his personal assistant and for another 37 years as one of Mugabes cabinet ministers bleeding the country, hardly can Mnangagwa come up with any new or sound policies since he has been groomed to suffocate the country and has fitted well into his masters shoes. I therefore find nothing really to cherish about the expulsion of Mugabe because the system remains. This is just new wine in old bottles because Mugabe is gone but the same incompetent, corrupt and rotten system of ZANU PF still remains in place. Zimbabweans in general and the army in particular should have removed ZANU PF and its whole workforce (the system) instead of Mugabe only (the symptom). There was thus a need of the overthrow of the whole social order in order to replace it with a completely new order. In the French Revolution for example, it made no sense to overthrow Louis XV1 and replacing him with another monarch, Louis XV111. There was thus a need of instituting a complete overhaul of the system of monarchical rule.

Change of names of presidents, names of ministers and ministries does not lead Zimbabwe into economic prosperity, but a change of the whole system may revamp the economy. Very soon the hopeful, ravenous and expectant Zimbabweans will be disillusioned and only to discover that change of a person and not of a system does not lead to prosperity. Political analyst Doctor Ibbo Mandaza warns Zimbabweans against getting overexcited about the sudden and tumultuous unfolding of the Zimbabwean political events. It makes sense to forget everything else and focus on this historic moment, but at what cost to the broader prodemocracy, human rights, state accountability, comprehensive state reforms, ending impunity and transparent natural resource governance? Have we or are we in danger of donating a political kidney to a ZANU PF that was on its death bed and, in essence, adding more years to its lifespan as a governing party? There is a belief among those, either looking for jobs or that have been promised jobs, to seek to normalize the abnormal. Indeed, Mugabe must go, but, more fundamentally, the system must go!"21Zimbabweans in this Mugabe coup case have thus managed to cure the symptoms and not the disease.

Operation Restore Legacy: Egocentric ZANU PF does it alone Self-centered ZANU PF showed political immaturity by failing to form an inclusive government after

the military coup. An inclusive government would be representative and attaining credibility, transparency, accountability, and recognition. Selfish ZANU PF repudiated the noble idea of forming a coalition government. Patrick Chinamasa, the ZANU PF minister of finance was assertive in rejecting the idea which many had hoped for. What happened today has nothing to do with the opposition. It has nothing to do with the national government; we are cleansing our own party. We are correcting our own mess; we are the majority in parliament. We can expel the president alone and we are the ruling party, so where does a coalition come in, we do not need them.22However, Godfrey Kanyenze, an economist, castigates Chinamasa for political selfishness and argues that it was going to be sound, noble and credible if an inclusive government was formed rather than for self-centered ZANU PF to go it alone. Chinamasas way is fraught with problems and is not sustainable. It will only lead us into a cul de-sac.23

The Zimbabwe National Army setting a very bad precedence The Zimbabwe National army has been very detrimental and retrogressive in the democratisation of

Zimbabwe as it has set a very bad precedence. In 2008 the army was instrumental in making Robert Mugabe to cling to power after an electoral defeat by the MDC. In November 2017 the army again staged a military coup which imposed Emmerson Mnangagwa as the interim president of Zimbabwe, removing Mugabe

21 Mandaza, I. 2017. In Kuwaza, K. 2017. "ZANU PF gets new lease of life." The Zimbabwe Independent, November 24 to 30. 22 Chinamasa, P. 2017. In Kuwaza, K. 2017. "ZANU PF gets new lease of life." The Zimbabwe Independent, November 24 to 30. 23 Kanyenze, G. 2017. In Kuwaza, K. 2017. "ZANU PF gets new lease of life." The Zimbabwe Independent, November 24to 30.



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